Cowherd killing Bills coaching in his monologue

[WideNine]

I keep hearing this selective theme regarding losing close games.

 

It is true that last year we either buried teams or struggled when it was a close battle, but the prior season we won plenty of close contests.

 

27 - 24 Indy Wild Card

31 - 28 Miami

35 - 32 Rams

30 - 23 Raiders

24 - 21 NE

 

In 2021 we won most games by wide margins. The close ones we lost were:

 

• Lost to the goat in Tampa in OT.
• Lost to the Titans on the goal line... QB sneak stuffed. Covid Dawkins steamrolled and Allen slipped.
• Lost a crap game of competing field goals against Jags.
• Lost a close game in a wind storm against NE where they ran all day and Mac threw a total of 3 passes.
• Lost a close one against KC in OT where offense did not see the field and prevent D got us into that mess.

 

The close losses or burying teams seemed more indicative to me of a defense that thrived rushing the passer and forcing 3 and outs against teams where our leads forced them to be one dimensional and struggled against the others.

 

Beane went out and bolstered our d-line and prioritized DBs in the draft.

 

I am not a fan of Frazier's prevent zone defense in close games, or when defending 3rd and forever... and would also like to see more balanced effective rushing attack to keep play action viable and Allen upright, but I don't see enough "bad" coaching to join those trying to manufacture that narrative.

 

 

Overall, we just need our very good team to get healthier. 

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by WideNine
Just format changes to make it easier to read

[HappyDays]

I think any statistic that uses data from the previous season is really stupid. Every season is a new season. We were 0-6 in close games last year and are 0-1 this year. You can't combine the two and act like it means something. People are reaching to find some overarching coaching or player issue that led us to lose a close game in Miami. It's actually really simple - we were down a bunch of players, we lost more during the game, everyone was exhausted by the end. Trying to pick any meaningful data out of a game like that is a waste of time.

 

We had two coaching failures - the play calling on the 2nd drive (not debatable) and the 3rd and 22 (kind of debatable, I think most defenses would have played it the same way). McDaniel had coaching failures too. On our 1st TD he foolishly blitzed Allen in the red zone which left Singletary wide open. He didn't go max protect on the final run play on 3rd down at their own goal line and it directly led to a safety. But we don't talk about that because the Dolphins won the game.

 

I think it's interesting to discuss the multitude of reasons that the Bills managed to lose a game where they statistically dominated their opponent, but one game does not define the coaching staff or the whole season. It's week 3 for cripes sake. By most analytical measures we are still the best team in football. Josh Allen slipping against the Titans 12 months ago has nothing to do with this conversation.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

Too Allen centric when Allen is the only healthy player on the team lol riiight

[Airseven]

12 hours ago, zow2 said:

In a nutshell,  

Bills have a defensive coach. Allen is being used like Cam in Carolina.

6 years in, No ability to run the ball unless it’s Allen.  

No ability to create offense outside of Allen.

This can’t last with Allen. He will age out overnight down the road like Cam or Big Ben.

Great knockout punch but Only the Texans are as bad as Buffalo in close games since beginning of last year.

Not a fluke, happens because QB is exhausted and gets sloppy at the end from being overused.

 

 

All that is fair. And it carries weight since Cowherd usually praises the Bills.

 

The sloppiness at the end of games happens without fail. Allen presses. Also, he fumbles nearly every time he’s touched in the pocket but that’s a separate issue.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

12 hours ago, Bangarang said:

He’s at least right about is not being able to run the ball.

 

We’ve used two 3rd round picks and a 2nd round pick on RBs in the last 3 years and we still don’t have a guy that can consistently carry the load for 15 or so rushes a game.

Asking Allen to throw it over 60 times is not a recipe for sustained success. 
 

Just commit to Singletary as your lead back and treat him like one. 

 

It’s obvious the Bills don’t want to commit to Singletary if they haven’t by now it will never happen. We need to make a Rams type move and trade for an elite back . At this point I won’t care if they gave a team a 1st for a elite back . Hopefully the Giants keep losing from now to trade deadline and they trade us Barkley for a 2nd and 4th rd pk. I don’t care if he’s gonna be a free agent next yr if it helps us win the chip. 

[GoBills808]

I would put money on us going around or a little over .500 in one score games this year

[QLBillsFan]

7 hours ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

It’s obvious the Bills don’t want to commit to Singletary if they haven’t by now it will never happen. We need to make a Rams type move and trade for an elite back . At this point I won’t care if they gave a team a 1st for a elite back . Hopefully the Giants keep losing from now to trade deadline and they trade us Barkley for a 2nd and 4th rd pk. I don’t care if he’s gonna be a free agent next yr if it helps us win the chip. 

Singletary played outstanding on Sunday. The RB’s are not the issue. The OL with Kromer was expected to improve in the run game and so far not so much. If you think the RB’s are the problem re watch the Dallas OL create holes on key down and distance for a back up QB. It’s an OL issue. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

20 hours ago, Vertig0 said:

 

100% agree with Dr. House.

 

Oh and by the way, let's cherry pick stats - the Bills are the worst team (other than the Texans) in close games since the beginning of last year (cherry pick last year to fit the narrative).  But wait - let's look at 2020 (still have the same core of players and coaches).

 

Week 2 - Beat Dolphins by 3

Week 3 - Beat Rams by 3

Week 4 - Beat Raiders by 7

Week 7 - Beat Jets by 8

Week 8 -- Beat Pats by 3

Week 10 - lost to Cardinals on Hail Murray after last second JA TD

 

Prior to us destroying teams - JA was well known for his late game heroics - but due to recency bias, JA is not a clutch QB (I read it here, it has to be true!) and the Bills are horrible in close games.

 

Awful take with selective stats being used. 

 

Some dumb timeout usage on the road cost them in this one.  But coaching isn't why bass misses a FG, or why singletary misses a block, or why allen misses a 4th down throw.  Lot of stuff went wrong at the same time.  

33 minutes ago, QLBillsFan said:

Singletary played outstanding on Sunday. The RB’s are not the issue. The OL with Kromer was expected to improve in the run game and so far not so much. If you think the RB’s are the problem re watch the Dallas OL create holes on key down and distance for a back up QB. It’s an OL issue. 

 

It's tough to evaluate the unit in that one.  Tons of shuffling, heat exhaustion, snap issues from under center.  I don't know if they were even comfortable with mancz at center doing non shotgun snaps.

 

Someone else mentioned it on a thread but - while the RPOs are mostly working, we're passing on almost all of them.  There needs to be an under center element to the offense.  I also think using mckenzie in jet motion more often will help.  You can use davis and knox in motion as well to block backside ends as well.  

[NastyNateSoldiers]

1 hour ago, QLBillsFan said:

Singletary played outstanding on Sunday. The RB’s are not the issue. The OL with Kromer was expected to improve in the run game and so far not so much. If you think the RB’s are the problem re watch the Dallas OL create holes on key down and distance for a back up QB. It’s an OL issue. 

Outstanding is averaging 3.5 yds per carry on the yr facing light boxes 65% of the time? 
 

i hate how people want to blame just the Oline for the bad running back play without truly breaking it down our backs are slow and can’t threaten the outside with consistency which makes life miserable on our Oline because the defense knows when we run most likely it’s between the tackles.  We need a back that can challenge be defense and make teams pay for these light 6 man fronts they employ against us at will. 

[What a Tuel]

21 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

They'd be 9-7 and make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years,

 

Its amazing how quickly people forget.

[ngbills]

23 hours ago, IronMaidenBills said:

It’s the Josh Allen and Diggs show. The fact that McD and Beane can’t protect him and have a respectable running game is sad. If it wasn’t for Josh’s mobility, we would be screwed. Imagine losing a race with a Ferrari, that’s what McD is doing. 

Painfully rewatched this game. The similarity to other games the Bills struggle is not rocket science. The OL struggled big time and Allen was rarely throwing from a clean pocket. And it was not only after the injuries it was from the get go.  

[ngbills]

10 hours ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

It’s obvious the Bills don’t want to commit to Singletary if they haven’t by now it will never happen. We need to make a Rams type move and trade for an elite back . At this point I won’t care if they gave a team a 1st for a elite back . Hopefully the Giants keep losing from now to trade deadline and they trade us Barkley for a 2nd and 4th rd pk. I don’t care if he’s gonna be a free agent next yr if it helps us win the chip. 

Singletary can show flashes but we have yet to see a game they are committed to him. There have been plenty of games on the initial drive we have runs of 7, 12, 8 yards etc. Score a TD and drive two is all Moss, then we punt. Drive 3 its back to Singletary and no runs, but we still score a TD. Then Singletary gets a couple carries before half. So he can start off like 4 carries for 27 yards and finish the half 6 for 31. Second half is back to the rotation but much more pass heavy and Moss runs. Singletary finishes 9 for 48. Moss is 8 for 21. Cook is 2 for 7. Allen is 8 for 49. 

[Bruffalo]

4 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Singletary can show flashes but we have yet to see a game they are committed to him. There have been plenty of games on the initial drive we have runs of 7, 12, 8 yards etc. Score a TD and drive two is all Moss, then we punt. Drive 3 its back to Singletary and no runs, but we still score a TD. Then Singletary gets a couple carries before half. So he can start off like 4 carries for 27 yards and finish the half 6 for 31. Second half is back to the rotation but much more pass heavy and Moss runs. Singletary finishes 9 for 48. Moss is 8 for 21. Cook is 2 for 7. Allen is 8 for 49. 

I'd be fine with it if they were using Cook instead of Moss.

 

Moss is awful.  Every week I've watched him struggle and I have no idea why the Bills keep forcing him into the lineup.

[Jerboski]

I mean eventually we have to look at Sean and ask can he win close games…. The Kc game last year was ridiculous and here we are again struggling in close games, I dunno I’m losing faith sean is the guy to win a title

here 

 

make no mistake this team

has championship talent we will see if we have championship coaching 

[Rat-boy]

22 hours ago, Niagara Dude said:

He is spot on and time for Beane to look to see what RB'S are available.  I am so tired of people saying Moss and Singletary are fine when they just cannot make yards and we need our QB to run the ball.  Cook at this point looks like a project or pass receiver,  start bringing in guys for tryouts.  I like Singetary as a pass catcher but we need someone who can get those tough yards.  

We need a cohesive group up front who can…I don’t know…not miss their blocking assignments?

 

Personally I feel that far too much blame gets put on the backs. 

[C.Biscuit97]

It absolutely amazes me that dudes like this dork and skip actually have people that take them serious. They are wrong like 75% of the time and get people all worked up. At least, CC has a hot daughter. 

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

4th and 4 FG was a coaching failure. 

 

In retrospect, sure, because we missed the FG. But in the moment it should have extended our lead and I wouldn't have trusted our OL to hold up long enough for a 4th and 4 anyways.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

1 hour ago, ngbills said:

Singletary can show flashes but we have yet to see a game they are committed to him. There have been plenty of games on the initial drive we have runs of 7, 12, 8 yards etc. Score a TD and drive two is all Moss, then we punt. Drive 3 its back to Singletary and no runs, but we still score a TD. Then Singletary gets a couple carries before half. So he can start off like 4 carries for 27 yards and finish the half 6 for 31. Second half is back to the rotation but much more pass heavy and Moss runs. Singletary finishes 9 for 48. Moss is 8 for 21. Cook is 2 for 7. Allen is 8 for 49. 

There’s a reason they don’t commit it’s either he’s not talented enough or he can’t handle the workload. I believe it’s a little bit of both. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

5 hours ago, QLBillsFan said:

Singletary played outstanding on Sunday. The RB’s are not the issue. The OL with Kromer was expected to improve in the run game and so far not so much. If you think the RB’s are the problem re watch the Dallas OL create holes on key down and distance for a back up QB. It’s an OL issue. 

I mean look at the snap counts from the game.  We had absolute scrubs forced in due to injury. 

[par73]

The record in one score games is troubling. The Bills (Allen and the coaching staff) need to maintain composure when the chips are down. Too many bungled plays, poor challenges (costing timeouts) and execution when the game is on the line (and at the end of the first half). These are recurring issues.